I think the author is very confused about what China agreed to in the Paris climate agreement. China agreed that they will start reducing emissions by 2030. Sp

I think the author is very confused about what China agreed to in the Paris climate agreement. China agreed that they will start reducing emissions by 2030. Specifically, China agreed they will take emissions from the year 2030* as a baseline, and commit that from 2031 onwards, all yearly emissions will be lower than that baseline. This metric is extremely game-able. The most logical thing for China to do is to continue increasing their emissions through the 2020s, have peak emissions in 2030, then reduce emissions after that. Maximizing their emissions in 2030 will give China the most breathing room for when they reduce their emissions over the next few decades. And from the article, you can see China is doing this exact strategy. China has approved dozens of new extremely polluting coal power plants in the first six months of this year. As long as these power plants go online before 2030, these power plants are exempt from the climate agreement AND they also increase China's quota for emissions after 2030. The Paris climate agreement lets China pollute as much as they want for the next decade. Not only that, it incentivizes them to pollute as much as they can. Because they can reap the rewards after 2030. * Or 2029, 2028, etc.